Annotation:Rockingham Cindy

Back to Rockingham Cindy

X:1 T:Rockingham Cindy N:From the playing of fiddler Tommy Jarrell (1901-1985), Mt. Airy, N.C. M:C| L:1/8 Z:Transcribed by Andy Kuntz K:D de|:f2a2 abag|f3g fede|fd2d d2d2|([de][d2f2])g fd[df][de]| faa2 abag|f[d2f2]g fedf|ed2e fgfe|1(Dd2)(Dd2)- de:|2(Dd2)(D d2) d2|[M:2/4]ed3|| [M:C|]|:B3{B}c BABc|BABd-d2d2 |A3B AGFG|AGFG AFd2| B3{B}c BABc|[M:2/4]BABc |[M:C|]Ad2e f2e2 |1 (Dd2)dd2dd|[M:2/4]ed3:|2[M:C|](Dd2)d d d2e2||

ROCKINGHAM CINDY. AKA and see "I Get My Whiskey from Rockingham." Old-Time, Breakdown & Song. D Major (Jarrell): G Major (Silberberg). ADae (Tommy Jarrell) tuning (fiddle). AABC. The tune is often compared to north Georgia fiddler Earl Johnson's "I Get My Whiskey from Rockingham" (recorded in 1927), and although Tommy Jarrell's version is musically different, the words are clearly related. Fiddler Jarrell (1901-1985), of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, whose version is much imitated, sang:

Never loved old Cindy, don't expect I ever shall.
Never loved old Cindy, but I love old Cindy’s gal.

Chorus:
It's come along home, Cindy, Cindy.
Knock along home Cindy, Cindy.

Where'd you get your whisky, where'd you get your dram?
Where'd you get your whisky at? Way down in Rockingham.

Where'd you get your whisky, where'd you get your dram?
Where'd you get your whisky at? (spoken) well it don't make a damn...

Another version goes:

Where'd you get your whiskey, where'd you get your dram?
I got it from a little girl way down in Rockingham
Rocky Road Cindy, rocky road to town
Rocky Road Cindy, way down in Rockingham

I went down to Rockingham, I did not go to stay
I fell in love with a pretty girl and I could not get away

Lips as red as a red rose, her hair was huckleberry brown
The sweetest girl I ever saw, way down in Rockingham

First I kissed Cindy once & then I kissed her twice
I'll tell you where I kissed her, gonna kiss her there tonight

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Greg Canote (Seattle) [Silberberg].

Printed sources : - Carlin (Kyle Creed: Clawhammer Banjo Master), 2010; p. 46. Carlin & Levenson (Fred Cockerham & Tommy Jarrell: Clawhammer Banjo Masters), 2015; pp. 42-43. Leftwich (Old-Time Fiddle Round Peak Style), 2016; No. 60, p. 94. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 132.

Recorded sources: - Cartunes 105, Bruce Molsky and Bob Carlin – “Take Me as I Am” (2004. Sourced to Tommy Jarrell). County Records, Tommy Jarrell – “Banjo Album.” County CD 2734, Tommy Jarrell - "Down to the Cider Mill" (2004. Reissue of 1968 LP). Marimac 9009, Chad Crumm - "Old Time Friends" (1987).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index for Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Taylor Kimble's version at Slippery Hill [2]
Hear Tommy Jarrell's recording at Slippery Hill [3]